Central African Republic

Central African Republic, landlocked country located in the centre of Africa. The area that is now the Central African Republic has been settled for at least 8,000 years. The earliest inhabitants were the probable ancestors of today’s Aka (Pygmy) peoples, who live in the western and southern forested regions of the country. The slave state of Dar al-Kuti occupied the northern reaches until the various regions of the Central African Republic were brought under French colonial rule late in the 19th century. Colonial administrators favoured some ethnic groups over others, resulting in political rivalries that persisted after independence in 1960. Following periods of civil strife and dictatorial government, including the infamous regime of the self-styled Emperor Bokassa I (who renamed the country the Central African Empire), the country embarked on a course of democracy that was threatened, at the end of the 20th century, by interethnic civil war in neighbouring countries as well as by attempted coups d’état. Weary of social chaos and shifting allegiances among contending elements of the power elite, the country’s citizens quote a regional proverb, "When elephants fight, the grass suffers; when elephants make love, the grass still suffers."

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Boats moored along the banks of the Chari River, Central African Republic.SuperStock

The capital city of Bangui, founded as a French trading post in 1889, sprawls on the banks of the Ubangi River. Famed in colonial times as one of the most agreeable cities in equatorial Africa, Bangui blends wooded hills and grassy meadows with heavily populated shantytowns, a handsome if now somewhat run-down city centre, and modern residential districts. Though strikes and curfews often bring the city to a standstill, Bangui enjoys a vibrant nightlife and a diverse musical culture.

Relief, drainage, and soils

The Central African Republic occupies an immense rolling plateau that forms, along a crest that trends southwest to northeast, the major drainage divide between the Lake Chad and Congo River basins. The country is well supplied with waterways. Tributaries of the Chari River occupy the northern third of the country’s territory. The remaining two-thirds of the terrain drains southward into the Ubangi River, which forms the Central African Republic’s southern border with Congo (Kinshasa).

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The vast central plains rise gradually in the northeast to the Bongos (Bongo) Massif, extending to an elevation of 4,360 feet (1,330 metres) at Mount Toussoro, and to the Tondou Massif in the east. In the west they rise toward the high granite range of the Karre Mountains, reaching nearly 4,625 feet (1,410 metres) at Mount Ngaoui, the country’s highest point, before declining eastward into sandstone plateaus. In the north the most significant mountains are those of the Dar Challa range, which rise to 4,350 feet (1,326 metres) at Mount Ngaya near the border with Sudan. In the southeast is a plain cut by a number of rivers.

Climate

A moist savanna climate prevails in the north and an equatorial forest zone in the south. During the rainy season (from March to October or November) heavy rainstorms occur almost daily, and early morning fog is typical. Maximum annual precipitation is 71 inches (1,800 mm), occurring from August to September in the upper Ubangi region, and in the Karre Mountains annual precipitation averages 59 inches (1,500 mm). During this season of southwestern monsoon (rain-bearing) winds, the daily temperature ranges between 66 and 86 °F (19 and 30 °C).

The dry season—brought by the northeastern trade winds, called the harmattan—generally begins in October and ends in February or March. The air is dry, and temperatures range between 64 and 104 °F (18 and 40 °C); it is warm during the day but considerably cooler at night. The skies are generally clear. Sandstorms and dust storms occur in the extreme north.

Plant and animal life

The country lies largely in the savanna zone of Africa. The northern part is treeless, whereas the southern portion of the country contains dense tropical rainforests, particularly along the Ubangi and Sangha rivers. A wide range of vegetation can be found in the savannas, from scrubby, drought- and fire-resistant trees and shrubs to more luxuriant gallery forests near rivers and streams.

Many species of antelope, as well as baboons, buffalo, and elephants, are found in the savannas; there are also forest elephants, which are smaller than those in the savanna. Once-numerous black rhinoceroses are now rare, the victims of overhunting. In the rainforests an even greater diversity of wildlife exists, including gorillas, chimpanzees, and other primates, leopards, and the endangered bongo antelope. Rivers contain many species of fish, crocodiles, and hippopotamuses. A rich and varied birdlife—in addition to many varieties of snakes, bats, and insects, including many colourful butterflies and moths—makes the territory zoologically one of the most distinctive in Africa.

There are several national parks and wildlife reserves, including Bamingui-Bangoran National Park in the north, Manovo–Gounda–St. Floris National Park (a World Heritage site since 1988) in the northeast, Zemongo Faunal Reserve in the east, and Dzanga-Ndoki National Park and Dzanga-Sangha Special Dense Forest Reserve, both in the southwest.

1After a rebel incursion culminated in the seizure of the capital on March 24, 2013, the president fled the country, the constitution was suspended, and the National Assembly was dissolved. An interim administration was inaugurated on August 18, 2013. A democratically elected president was inaugurated on March 30, 2016, and a new prime minister was named on April 2.